Eddie Jones claims England ’12 months ahead of the All Blacks’ as he backs them for ‘breakthrough’ win despite ‘psychological block’
England taking on the All Blacks in 2024 and former Red Rose boss Eddie Jones.
Eddie Jones firmly believes that England will get the job done this weekend and defeat the All Blacks for the first time since 2019.
The Red Rose head into Saturday’s game as slight favourites following their nine-match winning streak.
Steve Borthwick’s men have already defeated the Wallabies and Fiji this November, and will look to take a third southern hemisphere scalp at Twickenham.
They appear to be building nicely ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup but they will face a stern challenge from Scott Robertson’s side.
Although this New Zealand team have not been as successful as some of the great squads in the past, it still contains plenty of threats.
England’s powerful bench
But Jones thinks that the strong England bench will be enough to secure the win despite their poor record against the All Blacks.
“I reckon England are 12 months ahead of New Zealand in terms of development and I think they will be a little bit more cohesive than New Zealand,” he told the Rugby Unity podcast.
“If you look at the record of the games between England and New Zealand, I think New Zealand have won 60 per cent of the Tests. There’s that bit of a psychological block for the English when they play against New Zealand.
“[But] I think they will play pretty direct, they will have too much power in the second half. I think England are developing a really good, strong squad, and I emphasise the squad particularly – they’ve got depth in their 23.
“Maybe New Zealand are still a little bit travelling behind them.”
Jones was joined on the show by fellow former Wallabies boss Ewen McKenzie, who has also been impressed by England’s progression under Borthwick.
“I think Eddie’s 100 per cent right about England, they’re doing well in their development of the squad. He’s moving the players around but for the big games he’s starting with the younger guys – guys he’s relied on in the middle of the year against Argentina – but guys like [Ben] Earl and [Guy] Pepper have got to perform.
“The two props have got to perform because you’ve got [Ellis] Genge, who was captain last week, and [Will] Stuart, who’s a very skilful tighthead, [on the bench].
“In Stuart and [Joe] Heyes you’ve got two very good scrummagers and good footballers, so that’s a luxury other countries don’t have.
“Then you go back through and you’ve got [Tom] Curry and [Henry] Pollock, who’s the rising X-factor guy. It’s a really good scenario for a coach and it’s showing up in their consistency.
“It’s good momentum for them going into the World Cup; I think he’s really got it sorted out.”
Defence v attack?
McKenzie insists that the All Blacks, who have defeated Ireland and Scotland so far in November, will be a threat with ball in hand and that the result may depend on England’s defence.
“It’s a question of whether they can contain the All Blacks and they will need to tackle like they tackled against Australia,” he said.
“Hopefully the All Blacks present a slightly more lateral attacking picture and make it a bit harder for the English because they really teed off on Australia in the tackling side of things.”
There is plenty riding on the game for both teams with the hosts needing a victory to confirm their progress while the All Blacks want to remain on course for a Grand Slam.
Ultimately, despite claiming that it will go “right down to the wire”, ex-England boss Jones believes that his former team will secure an important win.
“Pat Riley, the LA Lakers and Miami Heat basketball coach, had a good phrase called ‘breakthrough games’. You’re developing a team, you’re building a bit of confidence but you then have this one game where you’re going to break through and the team really starts to believe what they’re doing,” he said.
“A game like this for England on the back of 10 wins will be the sort of game they’re looking for. It will encourage the players to work a little bit harder, really believe, get on the same page and go to the next step because they’re a team that’s just outside the top three and to get into the top three, these are the sort of games you’ve got to win.”
READ MORE: Nick Evans: England are no longer just hard to beat, I’m worried for the All Blacks
